The Hanshi is dark with only the light from the stars filtering in through the open windows. It's still summertime, and the nights are warm and muggy, even if the children are wearing their lightest sleeping robes.
On the big bed, Lan Huan is on the edge, fast asleep because it's past Hai shi, with Xue Yang sleeping next to him. Or, pretending to sleep. His eyes are closed, and he's listening to Wei Ying and his Didi (He has a Didi now!!! Okay, one that bites, but a Didi, nonetheless!!), talking.
On the floor a few feet away, A-Qing is fast asleep between Song Lan and Xiao XingChen. All three are in a similar state, and it's with pride that Xue Yang recalls that afternoon.
A few weeks ago, his Baba had promised him a surprise and implied it was for A-Qing as well, and today, he told them what it is. Lan Qiren, in the presence of everyone in this room, offered to adopt A-Qing, too, just because she was his sister. That anyone would take the trouble to find out what was on his mind all this time, ever since they'd left Baixue Temple, and then take the necessary steps to ease his worries still blows his mind. But Baba had promised him this before and today. He made it real.
It would have been fantastic if A-Qing had agreed, but she asked her new parents (already???) and both Song Lan and Xiao XingChen agreed that she was also theirs. Xue Yang thought that was the end of the matter then, but his Baba had, as usual, gone above and beyond. He pulled out a jade hairpin and gave it to her, explaining that it had the Lan crest engraved along its edge and that she was to keep it safe. On its own, that jade hairpin could have fed a family for a decade, but he went on to explain to her that it had previously belonged to his grandmother as a betrothal gift. Now, he was giving it to her as a promise that no matter when or how her circumstances changed, she would always be welcome at Cloud Recesses. All she had to do was present it to the guards at the Ivory pillars, and they would let her in.
For a Sect that valued its privacy and controlled who came here to learn and live, it was an incredibly generous gift.
Xue Yang had asked him later if Lan Qiren should have saved it for either Lan Huan or Lan Zhan, but he had simply smiled and replied that he had suitable gifts of equal value ready to impart to all of his children, and that was that.
Truly, Xue Yang thinks he will never stop feeling this tight pressure of pure joy in his chest towards these wonderful people. He would never be able to repay any of this.
He must have spoken that aloud, and his Baba had hugged him tightly and told him that all he needed to do was learn sincerely, to apply himself with genuine dedication towards his studies, and that would be payment enough. There's nothing he won't do for anyone in this room.
That's why his ears perk up when the Yin Iron is mentioned by the two on his right.
"Will destroying the Yin Iron pieces be any different from the Yin Hufu?" Lan Zhan asks Wei Ying, keeping his voice quiet.
"In what way?"
"If my memory serves me correctly, your Yin Hufu was more powerful than Wen Ruohan's three pieces of Yin Iron. But tomorrow, we will have to destroy five pieces of the Yin Iron. I am asking about the danger level."
Xue Yang is immediately tense, body taut like the strings of an instrument pulled to breaking point. No one had mentioned that it could be dangerous...or maybe they had, but the severity of the issue had been overlooked by him because it felt like the act was a long distance away, when actually, it is happening tomorrow. In the morning. He wants to ask them questions, like how dangerous is it? How long will it take, and basically, he wants a rundown of tomorrow's events in order to see if he can help them in any way. As it is, he's being forced to stay in the guest house with the babies, and also with Lan Huan and Nie MingJue, and of course he's already thinking about how he can convince them to sneak out and join their family at the meadow where the shit is going down.
